#all girls are like the rose bride

[transmascutena]

always thinking about how the only times we ever see utena wear dresses is when a man wants her to, even though she's clearly very uncomfortable with it. and also how each time it happens it's more horrific than the last.

the first time is because touga sends it to her, and she wears it despite saying she hates it, presumably for the same reason she tells him she came to the party in the first place: because she thinks he might be her prince. the bright side of this time is that she's (somehow) wearing her uniform underneath it, and is able to take it off.

the second time we don't get to see where the dress comes from or hear her thoughts on it, but it's pretty clear to me that she only chose to wear it because she thought akio would want her to. her own choice, but only by a technicality, the same way she doesn't actually get to choose anything when it comes to akio. (wonder what other relevance that has in this episode. hmmm)

and the last time may be the worst of all of them because this time she is literally forced into wearing it. she doesn't even get the illusion of a choice. and worse yet, it's the rose bride dress, the very symbol of the role akio has been grooming her into for the entire show.

something i really love about utena as a character is that her gender-noncomformity is explored and questioned throughout the show, but the answer it comes to is always that she is not comfortable with femininity, and that's something about her that never changes no matter how much certain people want it to. every time utena presents more femininely (other examples being the girl's uniform in episode 12 and the earrings in episode 35) it's always framed as something bad for her, something she is forced or coerced into against her will (to varying degrees.) and the show is not saying that being feminine is bad, just that utena isn't, that being gender-noncomforming is a key part of her identity, and that trying to take that away from her is cruel and violating.

#the struggle of being a gnc young lesbian in a cisheteronormative society... she's just like me fr #revolutionary girl utena #analysis #utena #akio #touga #m #all girls are like the rose bride #akio and utena

[onewholivesinloops]

my relationship with gender feels really weird sometimes. i say i'm a trans girl bc that's the easiest way to explain it to cis people and that's as far as their understanding goes most of the time LOL (no shade but most cis people don't have to think deeply about this stuff so they take it for granted!!!!). being perceived as a 'woman' DOES make me happy but it's very weird. it's really weird. it feels good but it's also a little horrifying, though not in the dysphoria way. the 'roles' and 'responsibilities' you're forced into are, as ever, very imprisoning. it makes me wonder if i had the chance to experiment beyond that, would i? what does this mean exactly though?? maybe i'm stupid and it's just that i hate gender expectations. idk. it makes me want to hide myself forever. being perceived is painful.

#this is why i feel characters like satoko and [redacted] #anthy too bc mamiya is SO real to me #i love mamiya so much for that #if you asked me what my gender is i'd say witch and i want to exist in the meta world free of all and any expectations #it's the ultimate escape that anthy isn't allowed #but it might still be okay she probably has a world of trial and error of her own #bc in the end they're all the same... #all girls are like the rose bride #this is incoherent nonsense but it's okay that's all i'm about #gamo.txt

[eldragon-x]

I'm playing It Takes Two with my sister where you play as about-to-be-divorced parents who are turned into puppets. And I play the mom while my sister plays the dad who gets nails as a weapon. The nails can be used to penetrate the mom and when my sister did that I literally went "This is just like in Revolutionary Girl Utena"

#all girls are like the rose bride

[revolutionarygirlmabel]

From Mabel Episode 17: Orientation

#in the end all girls (but especially mabel martin) are like the rose bride....... #rgu #revolutionary girl utena #mabel #mabel podcast #anthy himemiya

[diezmil10000]

realization

#in the end all girls are like the rose bride #what a good show #revolutionary girl utena #rgu #my art

[elden-hicks]

decided to revisit my au

#ts2 #the sims 2 #ts2 screenshots #veronaville #viola monty #romeo monty #juliette capp #tybalt capp #me: *slaps my violette/romlette ship folder* this girl can handle so many utena references #maybe i really want utena x ts2 vv crossover after all #like it's veronaville but it has an absurd strict patriatical system where all women are rose brides and need to be fought for #with their male family members or their other potential suitors #but it also romeo and juliette where romeo was erased and viola has to step so the narrative could keep going #and he also has a gender crisis #heeeelp

[grendelsmilf]

the fact that “arranged marriage” is a genuinely popular romance trope is so deeply sinister to me like are we ever gonna bother unpacking that or…

#o #in the end…. all girls are like the rose bride…….. but in a fun sexy way!

[autisticaradiamegido]

day 256

ok now the other one is also finished!

admittedly less compelling rationale for this one under the cut as well

this one is more to do with the way they react to attempts on their agency.

jade is honestly willing to tolerate A LOT if it comes with the assurance that everything will work out for the best in the end. like she just sort of gets put to sleep and stuck on a lonely 3 year journey through the void and then mind controlled and then put to sleep again. and within homestuck's narrative, she doesn't reeeally get a chance to fight back against any of the forces that hold her back for so much of the story. she's got this immense power inside her that she basically never gets a shot at unleashing without somebody else being in control of her. and she really only gets the chance to take on any Real Goals of her own (even if it's just helping out in the final fight with jack and pm) after davepeta shows up in the furthest ring and kisses/stabs her awake? basically jade is done pretty dirty by homestuck and i dont think that's a particularly hot take lol. but it IS also an anthy vibe

aradia though, once she realizes shes been manipulated or tricked, or that there is some outside force trying to control her, she's not having it. vriska gets her ass kicked, equius gets his ass kicked, droog tries to give her a single command as her exile and she's like, "d0nt tell me what t0 d0, y0ure n0t my real stabdad" and leaves. aradia is very much a "if it sucks hit da bricks" kind of gal and utena spends a decent chunk of the early series being like, "hey, you guys realize you don't HAVE to do these stupid duels right? hey anthy i dont think you actually HAVE to be the rose bride if all these assholes are treating you this badly about it. why are you all playing along with this terrible system what the fuck??" so that was the initial comparison that stuck out to me.

#day 256 #year 4 #aradia megido #jade harley #homestuck #arajade #revolutionary girl utena #like i said i think aradia as the rose bride is a better fit #but i DID have this sketch all nice and ready to go soooo...

[zozoubbb]

lets say hypothetically, in the end girls are all like rose brides

#in ben shapiro's voice #anthy himemiya #revolutionary girl utena #rgu #utena #shoujo kakumei utena #utena tenjou #in the end girls are all like rose brides #ben shapiro #shitpost #anthy

[azuresquirrel]

[image description: two-tweet thread, first reading "how much money do you think I would need to pay Abby Howard herself to redraw every Princess as Anthy Himemiya", second reading "can you truly put a price on love"]

Good morning tumblr, I am thinking about Women and I am Unwell

#Slay the Princess #Revolutionary Girl Utena #Anthy #I am overcome with Themes and Women #when you're just trying to live your life but the people around you keep projecting every patriarchal archetype of WOMAN on you #IN THE END ALL PRINCESS IS LIKE THE ROSE BRIDE

[transmascutena]

okay so i love drawing parallels between characters -- and i especially love drawing parallels between characters who seemingly have nothing in common -- and in a show where every character is a mirror of one another, i think kozue and utena might be the two who are the least alike. so i wanna talk (ramble) about them.

what does it mean that kozue and utena both have an injured ankle on their 'date' with akio?

i think it has something to do with restricted movement meaning restricted agency.

utena's injured ankle means she can't walk on her own, which means she would not be able to escape her situation if she wanted to. kozue on the other hand can walk, and chooses to go in the car, but i think they're both ultimately in a similar situation of believing they have more agency than they do in their relationships with akio.

kozue is more convinced of this because she's used to using romance and sexuality to get what she wants. she believes that she is using akio just as much as he is using her, and is fine with that arrangement (this is, i think, similar to touga's mentality. they both believe they're getting something out of their relationships with akio, which is why they stay.) but, of course, no matter how nefarious your intent is, it will never make up for the power imbalance between a child and an adult.

utena is... well it's more complicated. i don't think she's at all aware of what she wants, and she certainly does not think that akio is using her. (if anything she might think she's using him, and feels guilty about it.) she doesn't stay despite the abuse, she stays because she doesn't know about it. kozue knows akio is a bad person and doesn't care -- utena thinks he's a good person. akio takes advantage of both of these things in a pretty similar way. he makes all of his victims think that they are entirely in control of their own actions, even when they aren't. he makes kozue believe she is just as selfish as he is, and he makes utena believe that everything he does to her is her own fault. both of these things also conviniently serve to make sure neither of them ever tell anyone. (not entirely true. kozue does tell miki on his car ride, but it doesn't end up mattering at all)

then there's how they each got their injuries. utena's was either directly or indrectly akio's fault, depending on interpretation, whereas kozue's came from a decision she made that had nothing to do with him. i think this mainly reflects that kozue is not part of akio's plan in any significant way, whereas utena obviously is. he needed to personally restrict utena's agency, whereas he only took advantage of the way kozue has limited her own agency via the choices she makes (and the structure she lives in that pressured her into said choices, of course. i hope i don't sound like i'm victim blaming.) this again ties into kozue being able to walk despite her injury where utena can't -- kozue is much more free to leave her situation.

#this is 100% just me rambling idk if there's a point to any of what i'm saying. it stopped being about character parallels pretty quick #revolutionary girl utena #analysis #utena #kozue #akio #m #akio and utena #all girls are like the rose bride

[allaboardthechuchutrain]

I JUST realized Kanae's eyes are green. GREEN. (I think) she's the only other character besides Akio and Anthy who has green eyes.

#kanae #rgu #revolutionary girl utena #“all girls are like the rose bride” #and Kanae was going to be a bride bride in the future

[clowningoose]

#revolutionary girl utena #rgu #rgu akio #akio ohtori #fan art #rgu anthy #anthy himemiya #rgu dios #You know how Akios color switch from white when he was Dios to red is also part of his angel/god to devil theme #And Anthys been dressed in all red ever since she was a child and then later on as the rose bride as well #Perhaps as a symbol of Anthy 'corrupting' or 'staining' Akio #As well as a constant commemoration of sin #And with the whole bride thing it also just reminds me of that one guy who wanted his wife to wear a red dress to their wedding #because she was 'impure' (hadsex before the wedding) #But the red has never been absent from Dios Design #Note the Cape #In all likelihood Anthy's color has only been red because of Dios #I mean when she leaves by all means it would make sense for her to be wearing her own colors but she isn't wearing red #But that's obviously not the whole of it #Color in rgu is so varied and vast in meaning that this is just like a small thing on the corner of a circle

[nerdy-nonbinary]

I haven’t stopped thinking about the fact that the most iconic imagery of Utena, the rose emblem, the Rose Bride Dress, Utena drawing the sword from Anthy’s chest, hell, most of Utena and Anthy’s relationship, are all images of abuse, of toxicity and deceit and ignorance. Beautiful ignorance, sure, but we fall in love with Utena’s obliviousness and have to decipher what healthy love there is on our own as viewers. All while the striking images of harm linger in our heads.

#revolutionary girl utena #rgu #sorry this sounds all fancy but it makes me crazy thinking about it!!!!!! #the most iconic parts of Utena are gestures of harm!!! #and sure it’s fun to draw other fictional couples like Utena and Anthy but then we are continuing the cycle of the rose bride!!! #ignoring the abuse for the surface level beauty of the princely imagery and badass sword fights #my own post

[rozecrest]

guy who’s only seen utena watching serial experiments lain—

#THERES SO SO MANY PARALLELS IS THE THING. it got REAL intertexty at the end #like even just in aritistic and stylistic chives in the show. repeated sequences. shadows (i LOVE how this show does shadows). the blurring #of realities. dude…. lain is such an anthy as well. in infornography the scene where everyone is talking about her resembles the young anthy #scene so much… ALL GIRLS ARE THE ROSE BRIDE ON THIS ONE!!! the internet will pin you up like a butterfly forever! and god was so akio coded #it was insane. i think this show is less about the patriarchy than utena but the threads are there. the way god treats lain and violates her #space and boundaries. the men in black trying to shape lains view of herself and her world. #i’m gonna think about this more on my rewatch. GOOD SHOW #also. deconstructing the family of it all. lains father makes me want to die he’s so. he bought her that first computer EAGERLY. gr. #chats

[rose-bride-bracket]

She rose on my bride till I bracket.

.

#asks #the rose bride bracket #they rosed on my bride until all girls were like her. whatever #snapcube eggman voice akio ohtori's a bitch ass motherfucker #snapcube eggman voice the swords of hatred are bitch ass motherfuckers